Drowning [English]

1. Hang On

Author's note: Hello there! So welcome to my first fan fiction after almost three years. It's also the first one I write in English! So I just binged the Percy Jackson books in the last weeks and then I got this idea. It was supposed to be a one shot, but now it's full story. At the moment I actually have no idea where this story will go, but I just hope you enjoy reading it.

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Percy Jackson. Unfortunately.

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Chapter 1 - Hang On

Hang on when the water is rising

Hang on when the waves are crashing

Hang on, just don't ever let go

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"Percy, is everything all right?" Annabeth asked, gently placing her hand on his shoulder. Percy had arrived at the camp a few weeks ago, and Chiron and Annabeth still wanted to meet him every evening to talk.

Whenever Percy arrived at Camp Half-Blood, he always felt at home, glad to be with his fellow demigods. But as the weeks had gone by, something had changed. Percy felt somewhat foggy, as if everyone around him was moving too fast, or maybe it was him who was moving too slow? The feeling of home was gone and he felt very out of sorts.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Percy said, taking a few steps away from Annabeth.

He immediately knew that he had hurt her with this gesture, but he couldn't stand to be near her. Lately, he had been doing that more and more often. He needed air to breathe.

"I think I'm going to rest now, it was a long day."

Percy felt the worried glances of Chiron and Annabeth boring into his skull as he turned his back to them and went to his cabin.

His cabin had hardly changed in the months he was gone, as was to be expected. Besides Tyson, he was the only inhabitant of the cabin of Poseidon. He was away for months, but his cabin still looked as if he had never really left. It was his home, exactly the way he wanted it, and yet, Percy still felt like an intruder and he didn't know why.

Only now did Percy noticed how tired he actually was. His eyes slowly closed again and again, and his body felt like as if he was carrying the weight of heaven on his shoulders (the feeling was very well known to him). He had not slept for days; he was too afraid of what he would see in his dreams. Funny enough, they all thought he was a hero; they celebrated him when he finally returned to the camp, but Percy no longer felt like he deserved the title. What kind of hero was afraid to go to sleep?

Slowly, he pulled off his dirty clothes and carelessly threw them on the floor. He made no big effort to keep his cabin clean or care for his own hygiene. Percy crawled in his bed as he was and pulled the blanket up to his chin.

His gaze landed on the empty bed beside him; he missed his brother but he also missed Annabeth, his mother, and even his father Poseidon. He simply missed everyone. He felt alone and lost, but he knew that no one could help him.

Slowly, he closed his eyes and immediately fell into a nightmare.

It was dark.

"Percy!" He heard Annabeth scream, but he could not find her anywhere. Where was she? He had to find her.